This invention relates generally to healthcare and more particularly to a system to facilitate the movement of a patient from one cushioned bed-like surface to another.
In the work of attending to and caring for patients, there are many instances when a patient who is lying on an ambulance cot or a bed is unable to move. When it becomes necessary to move the patient from an ambulance cot to a hospital bed, or from one hospital bed to another, it is necessary for at least two people to move the patient. Typically, where it is a transfer from cot to bed, at least one person is on the far side of the bed and the other is on the far side of the cot. The person on the bed side pulls and the person on the cot side pushes.
One method used sometimes to move a person from a cot to a bed or from a bed to a bed, is for the person on the bed side to roll-up the edge of the sheet on which the patient is lying, grip it in each hand, and pull the sheet as the person on the cot side pushes the patient so that the sheet with the patient on it is transferred. For heavier patients, it often takes at least two people on one or both sides of the bed and the cot. During these types of transfers, it is usually necessary for the attendants to lean forward while pushing or pulling, resulting in risk of a back sprain. The purpose of the present invention is to make the task of moving a patient from one type of bed to another, easier to perform.